06.11.2020
The report of the Agreement for Safety inthe Construction Industry shows that during the 10 years of the organization’s activity, the number of victims of accidents onconstruction sites inPoland has decreased almost twice, from 8684 to4743. Inthe construction industry, there are four times fewer fatal accidents per 100,000 today. than adecade ago. Much of the credit for this goes tothe association of the largest construction companies inPoland, which works toimprove work safety.
Inthe years 2009-2019 inPoland by45 percent. The number of people who were injured inaccidents onconstruction sites has decreased. During this time, the number of accidents inthe entire economy decreased byonly 4 percent. The largest decrease was recorded among serious accidents (by75%) and inthe number of fatal accidents (by63%). According toEurostat, inthe years 2009-2018, among all European Union countries, Poland improved safety onconstruction sites the most. From the country with the highest number of fatal accidents per 100,000. (21.49) was among the countries with the lowest rate of the most serious incidents (5.18).
– The most important achievement is the decrease inthe number of accidents onPolish construction sites, despite the doubling of the number of construction companies onthe market and ahuge increase inthe number of employees onconstruction sites. Wehave managed toachieve this effect thanks toconsistency and the introduction of the same requirements for all entities. Wehave developed and implemented uniform standards, wehave raised the level of supervision culture, and health and safety training is atan increasingly higher level. Our subcontractors donot argue with health and safety requirements, because they know that they will bethe same for each signatory. Safety is nolonger ataboo subject inbusiness talks with our subcontractors and service providers – says Jacek Leczkowski, Vice President of the Management Board of Erbud S.A., who has been the President of the Agreement for Safety inConstruction since this year.
Safety improved the most inthe largest companies – the number of injured people inthem decreased from 2490 in2009. to1311 in2018. For years, the highest percentage of accident victims (about 60 percent) have been employees with atmost one year of work experience and those who have worked for 2-3 years. Atthe same time, inthe years 2009-2018, these two groups recorded the largest decrease inthenumber of victims. Accidents onconstruction sites are most often suffered bythe least qualified auxiliary workers, some of whom are foreigners. According tothe National Labour Inspectorate, foreign workers onconstruction sites often donot have experience and construction qualifications aswell asknowledge of the Polish language, which has anegative impact onwork safety.
The Agreement for Safety inConstruction has akey impact onthe functioning of the construction industry inPoland. According torevenues for 2019. there are nine members of the Agreement inthe top ten largest construction companies. The revenues of the companies belonging tothe organization account for 56% of all revenues of the 50 largest companies inPoland. The mission of the largest general contractors associated inthe Agreement is toreduce the number of accidents onconstruction sites bypromoting aculture of safety, raising awareness of the dangers associated with work onthe construction site and preventing risks and accidents.
Abusiness partner cooperating with the signatories of the Agreement faces the same health and safety requirements inthe contract. The Agreement has one system of mandatory OHS training. An effective tool for popularizing the OHS culture inthe industry is the Safety Week organized bythe Agreement. It is held under the honorary patronage of the Chief Labour Inspector. It is the largest initiative inPoland topromote the culture of health and safety, which gathers thousands of participants every year. The report “Polish construction inthe years 2009-2019. The state of safety and the activities of the Agreement for Safety inthe Construction Industry” is asummary of the activities of the general contractors’ organizations, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.
– The initiative of the Agreement would not have come tofruition without the involvement of visionaries such asMr. Wiktor Piwkowski, chairman of the Polish Association of Construction Engineers and Technicians. Hewas the originator of the whole project. Inturn, Mr. Tadeusz Zając, the Chief Labour Inspector, actively sought ways tosolve the problem of accidents inthe construction industry. Hepersonally paid avisit tothe presidents of the largest construction companies and offered cooperation. Agreat contribution tothe creation of the Agreement was also made byMr. Zbigniew Janowski, the chairman of the Construction Trade Union, who is known for his activities toimprove safety inthe construction industry inthe Labour Protection Council atthe Polish Parliament – sums up Jacek Leczkowski.
